There's a dream where we are happy
by causeobviously098617
Summary: SEASON 3 SPOILERS. An alternative version of the ending of season 3/ the beginning of season 4. Can Mary and Matthew really beat everything that is thrown at them? who can say. welll I will...
1. Prologue

This is my first fan fiction so please review!

Prologue

Mary stared contentedly into her son's eyes. Her thoughts were filled with the future of her, Matthew and their son. She allowed herself a moment to allow the joy to fill her although being Mary, only a slight smile played on her face in the presence of the nurse. Mary couldn't remember being this happy and peaceful.

Shouts woke Mary from her daydream. She could not see what was happening and the nurse shut the door against the wall of sound. The nurse then walked over to her and said not to worry. Baffled, Mary tried to relax but she had the strangest feeling that something was very, very, very wrong. It had surely been over half an hour since Matthew had left, where was her family?

At that moment, Anna walked in. She was smiling but it was seemed wrong somehow. "Is there no sign of the others?" Mary asked. Anna took a moment to consider and replied "they're here and will be along in just a few minutes." Mary was not fooled by Anna; " Anna, what has happened?" Anna remained silent. "Please tell me Anna!" Mary was beginning to get frustrated. Anna could not find the words and said only "I….." At this point Mary had had it. She kissed her new born son on his forehead, gently passed him to the Nurse and she then proceeded to get out of bed. Anna made a move to stop her but the look on Mary's face silenced her immediately. Mary walked quivkly to the place where the noise was still radiating from. She pushed open the door and the image which met her on the other side made her stop instantly and for a moment, all she did was hold her hand to her mouth in shock. Oh Matthew!


	2. Chapter 2

Honestly would love feedback! Thank you all so much for reading if you do!

Chapter 1

The first thing Mary had noticed was the blood gushing from Matthew's head. Even with her, what some would call, limited medical experience she knew the situation to be very grave. Having recovered from the shock of seeing her husband so hurt once more, she went to his side and took his hand, despite the protests uttered by the various doctors and nurses. She gripped it tightly as though that would be enough to guarantee that Matthew would go on living. Surely, surely after Sybil, God would not take away Matthew too?

What was there to say? What was there to do? Mary felt wave upon wave of despair. After all, how could it be that her husband was to die so soon after the birth of their child? Mary could not even begin to try to understand and so she kept praying for Matthew's life. She almost jumped out of her skin when someone layed a hand on her shoulder. It was Cora.

Mary's thoughts all came out at once. "what's going on Mama? What has the doctor said? Will he be alright? What -".

"Well, let me speak Mary! Clarkson does not yet know fully the extent of Matthew's injuries. We need more time" said Cora. "Now, your baby needs you, Matthew is not going anywhere".

They had had such a lovely walk back from the village after they had visited Isobel. They Mary was laughing after making one of her usual jokes about Edith. Matthew was telling her off for being unkind.

"Yes but you still love me don't you?" Mary said, smiling.

"Always" declared Matthew, pulling her in for a kiss.

They continued walking back to the house and everything was as it should be.

The memories of him and Mary's somewhat turbulent relationship continued to fade in and out of focus….

"But I don't understand nothing has changed"

"Everything's changed"

"But you can't be sure I was going to refuse you even if it had been a boy because im not"

"That's the point I can't be sure. Of you. Or of anything it seems. The last few weeks have taught me that…"

Oh why had he not simply taken there then?

Mary was sitting in Matthew's room at the hospital with their son in her arms.

She whispered to Matthew "What shall we call him? I was thinking about Albert perhaps, or Robert after Papa". She looked at Matthew willing him to answer but his eyes remained firmly shut and all was silent except the sound of their breathing. Mary gave a sorrowful sigh and got up. There were arrangements to be made.

A few days hence….

Since Matthew's accident, Mary had spent nearly all her time with him at his bedside or nursing her new born son. Why had he not woken up? Why had he not come back to her? These questions were constantly on Mary's mind and she felt so unbelievably helpless. What use was she to Matthew? She could do nothing save hold his hand or speak words of comfort. The baby was still nameless. After all, it would not be right for her to pick out a name withought Matthew. Oh Matthew, she thought, please open your eyes? Please open your eyes…

Over the past few days Mary had become increasingly frustrated at Matthew. Even though she knew she was being unfair to him, she could not help it. Why would he abandon her? Why would he leave her alone at a time like this? It was at that moment that Mary lost her composure and almost yelled in Matthews face about how could he leave where and about how much she needed him. She then burst into floods of tears and buried her face in Matthew's chest.

Then she heard the faintest "my darling?" from Matthew's lips. Mary looked up in bewilderment at Matthew's face; his eyes were finally open although they seemed to be struggling to do so.

"Oh Matthew!" was all Mary could say.

Put simply, Matthew was awake and for now that was all Mary cared about. And now, after Matthew's awakening she finally had the courage to speak to Doctor Clarkson about Matthew's condition.

"Mrs Crawley, Matthew's injuries are rather extensive. He has broken many bones and I would not be surprised if he had some problems with his memory. He will have to stay here for at least four weeks until I can allow him to return home" Clarkson explained, speaking louder every time Mary looked as though she was about to interrupt.

"Surely with Syb-" Mary stopped; she sometimes still forgot that Sybil was no longer with them and changed her answer. "Yes, I understand but I should like to stay here with him as much as possible".

"Well, naturally you may visit for as often and as long as you like." Clarkson replied.

"May I sleep here? I want to remain as close to my husband at all times." Mary said firmly, sensing that Dr Clarkson would protest.

Dr Clarkson took several moments to consider her request. It occurred to him that whatever his reservations were, Lady Mary would simply cite her family's generosity to the hospital and get her own way anyway. Let us just save us the fuss, he thought and then agreed to Mary's request out loud.

The first time that Mary and Matthew spoke properly again after Matthew had woken up, the first thing Matthew said was "How is our boy?"

"He is doing rather marvellously I must say." Mary said, smiling.

"Have you yet picked out a name?" He enquired, curiously.

"I was waiting for you silly!" Mary replied, partly offended that he would consider that she had to waited for his input. She pushed the feeling aside and said "did you have any ideas?"

"I should like William" Matthew said, decisively.

"After William Mason? Yes, I must say it feels right" said Mary. "And then Robert as his second name? After Papa?"

"Yes! Do you know, I do not think we have ever made a decision so easily!" said Matthew.

Mary smiled, thanking God that everything would be alright.

AN: The next chapter will focus on Matthew's recovery and a surprise challenge…..


	3. Chapter 3

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS/FOLLOWS. It's great to know that you are enjoying the story so far and I hope you continue to do so

Chapter 3

Matthew's bones were not quite healed enough to allow movement in his legs and he was still bedridden. As the weeks had gone by, he had found himself becoming ever more frustrated. He was barely able to do anything by himself and this had taken its toll on him. It reminded him of that painful time when he had lost the use of his legs after the war and just as had happened then, he began to became slightly short tempered and snappy. His mother and Mary were with him almost constantly in an effort to keep his spirits up but he was growing weary of their constant, sometimes forced, cheeriness. In fact just that afternoon Mary had drawn his attention to his incompetence. She had swept in, carrying their son, a book and looking annoyingly cheerful.

"Hello darling, I brought you this book on new farming methods, terribly dull for me of course but I thought you might like it for the estate. The work is progressing very well and one of the farm hands even offered to let me drive a tractor. Imagine!" Mary spoke quickly, almost gushing.

Matthew was not amused. He did not want to hear about driving, in part due to his car accident, in part due to the fact that he was, of course, not in any fit state at all to drive. He did not want to hear about progress that he had had little opportunity to see and he did not want to hear about the fun that Mary seemed to be having. And so, because of all of this, he said nothing.

Mary did not miss this pointed silence and said "Matthew?"

This time Matthew felt he had no choice but to reply and so he said wearily, "that all sounds terribly exciting."

Mary was taken aback. "Well it is." was all she could say. Why was he behaving like this?

"Oh you can be so obtuse Mary!" Matthew grumbled.

And this left Mary even more shocked and a little hurt.

"I….." said she.

"I cannot even hold our son!" Matthew burst out.

This was when Mary realised that she had not noticed the effect Matthew's accident had had on him. Perhaps naïvely she had assumed that having gone through a similar situation before he would be able to cope with the second round, so to speak, better. She could not have been more wrong. Matthew felt the world had been unjust to him, a man who had been wounded in the service of King and country should surely never have to undergo serious injuries again? This, all of a sudden, hit Mary. She was meant to be Matthew's wife, how had she not seen this?

Mary sat on the chair next to Matthew and sighed. She felt conflicted, on one hand she felt bad for not having notice Matthew's feelings, on the other hand, she wanted to forcefully remind him that he had a lot of good things in his life, namely her and the baby of course. Mary kept a careful expression on her face and said:

"Oh Matthew, in a few weeks you shall be up and about! And you have me and our son. There are many who would be grateful to be in your position." The last part she said a little more primly than

she meant to. She reeled in her emotions, something she was rather aptly skilled at and then to cheer Matthew, she gently placed William next to Matthew on the bed. She tickled William's tummy and he begin to giggle. The look on Matthew's face and William's told her she had been successful – in both her intentions.

…

A few hours later…

Matthew had been listening to his mother go on about her new conquest at a home for children from troubled families for over half an hour. As pleased as he was that his mother was enjoying helping another cause, he was not in the mood to hear it. Fortunately, or so he thought, Tom entered at that moment.

Isobel turned, gave Tom a broad smile and said "Hello Tom, how are you? Would you like to speak with Matthew?"

Tom gave her a sort of half smile and replied "Yes, if that's alright."

"Of course, well my dear, I shall leave you. Not long until you'll be alright now and walking about now!" said while she walked out the door.

"Now Tom, what is it you have to tell me?" said Matthew.

Tom took a seat on the chair next to Matthew's bed and said "We have a problem. One of the older farmers does not want to leave for a cottage despite the fact he has not farmed for many years."

"Perhaps we can get Robert to persuade him" suggested Matthew.

"Ah, well…" Tom paused.

"What, what is it?" said Matthew, slightly confused.

"Robert does not see why we have to make all the farmers who are not being very productive move. I believe he likes this farmer particularly and is not willing to side against him" explained Tom.

"But I thought Robert had finally come round to our way of thinking?" Matthew was now even more confused and actually rather irritated.

"I think he still has some reservations although he has not voiced them" said Tom.

Matthew did not reply but became lost in thought. He could not understand why Robert was,all of a sudden, against him - again! He wondered which side Mary would take.

"Does Mary know?" he asked.

Tom shook his head.

"Bring them both here and I will just have to persuade him".

Tom nodded and left.

….

Again later that day….

"Robert, Mary, Tom welcome!" said Matthew loudly.

"So Matthew, what is this all about?" Robert asked.

"I hear that you are not going to help us with developments with the estate" Matthew said, trying not to sound too annoyed. Diplomacy was key and he knew Robert would not take kindly to being spoken to in such a way.

To this Robert replied firmly: "Well I…. I just do not see why Gray should have to leave, have enough farmers not been moved or bought out already? Gray has been a very loyal tenant."

"Mary, reason with him please!" Matthew could not keep his irritation out of his voice entirely.

Mary had decided to try and stay out of any problems between her father and her husband . Thus she only said "I can see both sides of the argument."

This threw Matthew; Mary was nearly always on his side. They had almost no disagreements after all they had been through.

"Robert, the point is that these farms are essential for the estate's future. The future we are trying to build for my son who is also your grandchild. Would you like to end up like Shrimpy?" The last part he knew would probably persuade him.

Robert did not want to agree because he felt for Gray yet he could see that he was not going to win and so he agreed and took his leave, taking Tom with him.

Mary moved closer to the bed and took Matthew's hand. He pulled it away quickly and had a grumpy expression.

"Mary, are you not on my side?" said he.

"Always" she said smiling and reached in for a kiss.

Matthew turned his face at the last moment and Mary's kiss landed on his cheek instead.

"Oh Matthew, I just did not want to get in the middle of it" she said.

"Yes well you are married to me!" Matthew retorted.

"Oh Matthew, you are being ridiculous! I shall come back later when you have had time to see sense!" Mary swept out and gave a little sigh whilst doing so.

Matthew crossed his arms and tried to convince himself that his Mary was not always right.

….

Next chapter: Matthew walks! Reviews welcome as always….


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: There is a massive jump in this. I think the story has had enough recovery stuff so I'm moving it along a little/a lot. Just a short update but there will be more soon!

Thanks mega buckets to chocolateapples1432 for the ideas/inspiration!

Chapter 4,

Matthew had been walking for several weeks now. He was so pleased to be able to enjoy the freedom it gave him again. And that was not the only benefit – being allowed back to Downton with his wife and son. Baby William or Will as he called him, was as cute as ever. He spent as much time with him as was possible. Matthew was also enjoying being with Mary more. He had missed the nights they spent in each other's arms. However, there were still a few problems which needed sorting. The first was Roberts continued refusal to support the reforms. Matthew had, unusually, begun to lose patience. Perhaps he had used all his patience waiting for Mary. That said, he would have waited for Mary forever. He knew why she had refused to take sides but still felt that it was not about an argument between he and Robert but about preserving the estate. With that in mind, he had a plan to bring Mary on side.

….

"But where are we going?" asked Mary, for the millionth time.

"Youll see! Now stop asking and kiss me" he said, grinning broadly.

Mary smiled and leant in to press her lips to his.

"We're almost there anyway" Matthew pointed to the farm building which was now coming into view.

Mary looked to what he was pointing at and exclaimed: "You're trying to get me to take sides with you! That's Gray's farm."

"Darling, if you will let me show you, you will soon see my point" Matthew sighed. He had suspected that this was going to be tricky and already he was being proven right.

"Alright but will we be back home soon? I wanted to spend some time with William before dinner."

"Of course" replied Matthew.

…

"So you see, Gray is not using the land productively. It would be much more useful to us and the country by running as a proper fun. The way this land ought to be farmed." Matthew finised his speech. He glanced sideways to see if he had managed to convince her and could see the expression on her face which told him he had.

"Well…. Yes I guess I do." She admitted grudgingly.

"So will you convince your dear papa?" he asked.

"Yes. I believe I can but you must come with me." She said.

"Of course, remember darling, I do not want to turn you against your father I only want to make the estate stronger so that when I do die, which I pray will be very long away, William will have a strong estate to take over. I do it all for him, and you."

"You already had me convinced my dear Matthew" Mary smiled, pressed her lips to his cheek and dragged him back to the car with a "William will be waking from his afternoon nap soon"

….

"I cannot believe you are against me in this." Robert exclaimed.

"Oh papa, why do you have to be so over dramatic? Besides you know that I am never against you but again you have lost on this one. Matthew is doing what he thinks is right for the estate and I believe in him." She gave her father a defiant look.

"Even so, poor Gray. He does love that farm house." Robert sighed.

"I know, but this is about more than just Gray. I want our future to be secure so papa, for everyone's sakes, will you please just let Matthew continue with his plans. I know that you know that he is right. This is a business; there is little room for personal feelings."

To this Robert simply sighed again.

Matthew spoke for the first time: "Well Robert, what do you say?"

"I do not think I can stop you and I believe you will try your best for Downton so I suppose I agree."

Matthew and Mary exchanged a smile.

"That's excellent Papa!" Mary got up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you Robert, I am truly grateful that you are on board. These changes will make Downton stronger, I am sure of it" with that Mary and Matthew went to see their son.

…

Willliam was growing bigger every day and his parents were revelling in his presence in their lives. When he had his nap, they would sometimes take time for themselves but when Matthew was busy with estate matters, Mary would sometimes sit with William when he napped. She thought he was even more adorable as he slept. Fortunately for William, he had inherited Matthew's striking eyes, although recently his hair had been growing in dark tufts.

Now at four months, Mary was enjoying trying to interest him in toys. Mary had even shocked the entire household by declaring she was going to make a baby mobile for above William's cot. The only one who did not seem surprised was Matthew. That night after her announcement, when he went into their bedroom, he pulled her into his arms and whispered "you are an even more amazing mother than I had ever imagined." and then he kissed her.

So after their talk with Robert, Mary and Matthew went up to the nursery where the completed masterpiece of a mobile now hang. Mary had wanted to make it special for William. It had five handmade objects hanging on it. The first was a stuffed W made from felt. The second was a mini version of Downton. The third was a mini Diamond which was partly representative of Mary herself. The fourth was a set of scales, the symbol of Matthew's proffesion of law. And the fifth object was a heart, embroidered with William's name, his birth date and the names of his loving parents. Mary had even left space for the names of siblings (if there were any). When Matthew saw it, his heart swelled with pride.

Yes, things were going very well. Very well indeed.

A/N

Any comments/ suggestions welcome


End file.
